Rabbits keep poping outside the litter box

Hello! I am new to this forum, so hello everybody and thank you in advance for the help you will want to give me.
I have two rabbits. They are two brothers named Kenny Powers and Necrobutcher. They are almost 7 months old. They are both neutered and were taken from a rescue almost 3 months ago.
They live in a large wooden hutch (two floors), but the door of the hutch is permanently open and they are free in the room. They also get to go outside and play in the garden every day for 2-3 hours. They seem happy, they are friendly enough, even though they don't really like being petted (well one does and one doesn't). They are comfortable with me and eat from my hands with no fear. They also jump on my laps at times if I hold a treat, so they are not scared of me.
My problem is the following: they are both litter trained for what concerns pee, but they keep pooping all over the floor of the room where they live as well as the litter box. They don't seem to poop much in the hutch floor though.
The only time I lock them in the hutch is at bed time. I have noticed that for some reason if they are left free in the room at night they will pee on the floor of the room, while if I lock them in the hutch for bed time, they use the litter box perfectly. They never poop on the top floor of the hutch, where they sleep, so it is not like they are unable to control their bowels.
I don't understand this behaviour of continuing to poop on the room floor. It is quite a lot and all over the floor, not in a corner or specific place. I am not sure what I can do. I repidently clean the floor (pick up the poop and place it in the litter box) and sometimes wipe it with white vinager but yet they carry on with that.

Any idea what I may be doing wrong/why they do it?

Their diet consists of rabbit pellets (two spoons per day), unllimited hay and a selection of frech vegetables everyday. Plus when they run free in teh garden they munch the grass as much as they want.

Thank you so much in advance

Hi, and welcome to the forum. It sounds like territorial marking, I think if you were to allow the rabbits access to the room at all times you would probably find that the behaviour would stop. If you regularly sweep up the poo from the floor and pop it in the litter tray as you are doing, and soak up wee with a paper towel before putting that in the tray too, it will show them where they need to go. Neutralising with white vinegar solution is a good idea. Each time my indoor bunny goes in a new room he claims it by pooing all over, but in his own room he doesn't do many at all outside of his tray. Do your rabbits have hay in the litter tray, as they like to poo and pee while they eat!
It isn't recommended to let indoor rabbits go outside in autumn/winter, or when it is colder than inside,as sudden changes of temperature are bad for them and can cause respiratory problems.

I would try adding a second tray in the run area, wherever they leave the most poop - even if it's right in the middle. You might find you'll be able to train them to use that much more easily than training them to go back in the hutch to use their tray. It might be they just feel like the run needs to smell more like them and giving them a tray in a suitable location means they can do that without making so much mess

Thank you so much for your messages
Tamsin, actually the room where the hutch is located is very small, so putting a second litter box would not make much of a difference because as it is, the litter box that is in the hutch is very close to them anyway at all time.
Zoobec, if I let them out of the hutch at night, for some reason, they will wee and poop outside of the hutch, everywhere. I am not sure why really...
They do have hay in their litter box though.

I am quite at loss with that...

Bunny logic is a little weird, sometimes moving 2' to the left to use a tray doesn't make sense to them. Might be the different view, different flooring or just the way the drafts carry the scent. Even with a small space, I'd always start with a second tray, even more if you want. Once you've got them in the habit of using extras trays and not the floor, you can then shift the trays gradually and combine multiple trays back into one

Yes my shed bunnies used to have a large underbed storage box and 4 other litter trays too :lol: now they are down to just the underbed storage box, so there is hope for yours too :thumb:

My bunnies have a shed and 10 x5 run... I used to have 3 litterboxes am now down to 2 but they do still like to wee on their fleece vetbed!!

I agree it sounds like territorial marking. My rabbits do this too. Also, with my rabbits, if they have the option to toilet outside of the hutch then they will - they dislike toileting inside the hutch so if they are not shut in they will always toilet in the run.

Are there any particular areas that they are pooing/weeing in more? If so, I'd put trays down in those places and see if that helps. Keep going with the white vinegar, as some of their marking behaviour could be from where they can smell their wee from before.

Thank you again everyone, I will try and add a litterbox outside and see how they respond to it

Nessar, the problem is: they do not seem to prefer a specific place of the outside space...they litter poop everywhere, so I am not sure really where to place the second litterbox :S

I will still try and figure out where I can put it though

They leave droppings to claim ownership and advertise their presence.

Now weeing, that's different. As well as the above, weeing in the wrong place can mean 'Look at me, I'm really clever, I can direct my wee anywhere I like'. Hence, Tabitha Rabbit never has a water dish...